Laptop shopping is too complicated to take over the Black Friday sale thread.

I really want a new laptop but need to keep costs down. However, it's my only computer and I do a lot of computing, so I need something good.

I keep eyeing sales but it's hard to find the right match of price and quality because the sales are always on very specific configurations, and they seem to fall into two categories: Cheap because of being a stripped-down sale configuration, or a great bargain but on a lot more computer than I need so still above my budget (e.g. a $900 sale on a thin-and-light 2-in-1 touchscreen with 12gb ram, 8th generation core i7 processor, and 516gb ssd. That's an amazing price for those specs, but I don't need those specs and the price is still above budget!)

So here's what I'd like:
- Budget under $500. The farther under, the better, but I realize I may have to spend up to $500 to get what I need.
- Screen size between 13-15.6"
- Not too heavy. I am in love with the 2lb range but realize that that's probably over-wishing for my budget. But I want to be able to take it places without being deterred by the weight of carrying it along.
- Good screen quality since I use it a lot
- 6-8gb RAM
- I don't know the equivalent of other processor brands, but in intel I'd want at least core i5 within the last couple of generations.
- SSD memory. I don't need tons of memory because I use a backup hard drive and do a lot in the cloud.

I'd be OK with a Chromebook IF it has a reasonably fast processor, and IF it's touchscreen because I hear that Android touch apps are the future of Chromebooks, and IF I can be assured that I will have a decent experience using MS Word and Excel on a Chromebook - I've heard mixed opinions on that. I don't use Word and Excel too often but I need them to be able to work satisfactorily for document collaboration. And once I'm buying them anyway it would be nice to have them work well enough for regular use as well, even though I've become a habitual Google user. A chromebook could be a good solution to the budget issue but I'm just not sure if one can meet my needs even though I'm a fairly basic computer user.

Thanks for the link, but I didn't find it very helpful. All it looked at were the top 5 best sellers on Amazon and Best Buy. So there's no accounting for computers that could be great but less popular, and it was a mashup of Windows, Chrome, and Mac. And no factor for upcoming sales. So there were a couple of interesting tidbits to read but I'm not really closer to figuring out what will be the best bet for me.

I had this issue last year. I went to Best Buy and spoke with someone who worked there and explained what I did and didn't need. He was so helpful. I was very clear that I didn't want to spend more than I had to and didn't need extras.
The ones that are major reduced aren't worth it unless you just use it for VERY basic things and don't care if they are very slow.
I ended up spending a little more than I thought (cuz you get fooled by the low quality cheap ones advertised) but I'm SO SO happy I did. (btw Best Buy had this fun deal going on where customers who bought laptops got a free mystery amount gift card that I didn't even know they'd be having. No clue if they'll be doing that again this year. I didn't go specifically on black friday I don't think but it was either the week of or the following week.)

This was done fast, so if you don't see any there that you like then I can look more. As an aside note, a mobile processor would work better for what you want. Also, if you are doing a lot in the cloud then a SSD hd will maybe make your computer boot 5-8 seconds faster but you will notice very little difference. SSDs are also more expensive.

In that case that's not what I'm looking for. I want the speed and power, the reason I'm using mobile instead of desktop is due to lack of space (plus I'd want to take it to-go sometimes, but that's not a primary use).

Does anyone know about buying used from Amazon Warehouse? I'm looking at a great price on a great computer, still a little more than I wanted to spend especially since I will have to buy Office separately, but I think this blows away anything I could have gotten within my budget. But it's used/warehouse, so I'm a little suspicious... no experience with it, but Amazon is a solid company so... it's just hard for me to take a $500 plunge ever!

Link: https://www.amazon.com/UX330UA.....op?ie=UTF8
(need to click "other sellers," choose Amazon Warehouse, and wait for 20% off to apply in cart. But then add $40 for tax, which I guess would happen anywhere except I forgot to count that in my budget math, making $500 total for thin and light, SSD, 8GB, and good overall reviews with a bunch of lemons thrown in. $500 plus office separately is a pinch for me but whatever I could get within my budget wouldn't come near these specs.)
Feeling pressured because I feel like this could go out of stock any second and I have a hard time doing something like this without mulling over it for ages first!

Answering my own question: Amazon CS said that even buying used from warehouse, you can return for any reason within 30 days for refund. There is also a regular 2 year defect warranty, but I'm waiting for an email reply on whether you can get an additional (e.g. accidental damage) warranty, maybe I'll ask Square Trade. My laptop spends too much time on my counter or table, we're a limited-surface household so there will inevitably be food or drinks in the same area as my workspace!

Hmmm... so I got my warehouse deal Asus Zenbook. I deeply want to love it - it got great reviews, it's speedy, and as much as I claim to be focused on functional productivity the truth is I am really loving the great aesthetics - smooth, light, sleek. But my main computer function is typing and so far I'm not loving the keyboard. Technically it said it was a full size keyboard but it feels much more cramped than the one on my old dysfunctional 15.6" Dell. I'm going to keep using it for a while to see if it just needs a learning curve because I have the 30 day return policy, but if I can't type comfortably then it will have to go :'( Hopefully I just need to get used to it because I really don't want to go back to the laptop shopping drawing board...